As many of us are aware, circumstances of the global economy and escalating food prices have begun to affect the money we spend at our local grocery stores. Los Angeles already features a high cost of living and it seems appalling to us that it only seems to be getting worse. But imagine, while our population is estimated at approximately ten million residents, what if four million of them were relegated to an existence that not only found itself both sheltered entirely within tent communities but also entirely dependent on foreign aid for food? All the while, what if this type of hunger crises was taking place along with the threat of violence that could be perpetuated by government arms at any time?

I am not suggesting that Los Angeles can, or ever will be, in a state similar to the one the currently plagues Darfur. However, what is clear about this great disparity between these two locations is that it allows us to maintain perspective of the world we are increasingly more connected with. As we become “globalized” in both economic and political terms, it is thus perhaps worthwhile not only to espouse a sympathetic perspective that is mindful of Darfur, but to perhaps also take it one step further and become involved, in whatever small way that may be.

Darfur Now, a documentary by Ted Braun, provided our city with an opportunity to become involved. Screening at UCLA’s Moore Hall, Darfur Now was the opening of a two-day event that began May 28th and has been organized to educate and entertain the public as it attempts to broaden the support to end this genocide. The film focuses on the lives of six people involved at various levels of the crisis. These include a peaceful villager-turned-fighter, a prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, a World Food distributor, a farmer-turned-refugee leader, UCLA alum activist Adam Sterling, and Don Cheadle (joined by George Clooney). While the film follows each person through the process of their efforts, it provides us with a clear sense of the various efforts that are working simultaneously to end this crisis, and therefore, the film is broad in the treatment of its subject. However, the film is altogether weakened, to an extent, by the disproportionate amount of exposition and seems to assume that as long as its elements are dealing with the same subject, its narrative is woven together intricately enough to be emotionally compelling. What we get in the end is a multi-faceted look at how different people are attacking the same problem, and in this sense, the film succeeds.

But why Darfur? Why is this occurring? Part of the answer to these questions lies in the mere fact that Sudan is rich in resources, particularly oil. In a recent column in Foreign Affairs by Michael Ross, this problem is identified as an “oil curse.” Since the 1970’s, countries rich in oil have enjoyed tremendous growth in revenue but have nevertheless suffered crushing debt, high unemployment, and sluggish or declining economies. In fact, as Michael Ross notes, “At least half of the members of OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) were poorer in 2005 than they had been 30 years earlier.” Placing oil-rich countries in an even clearer perspective, his column also indicates, “The world has grown much more peaceful over the past 15 years — except for oil-rich countries. Oil wealth often wreaks havoc on a country’s economy and politics, helps fund insurgents, and aggravates ethnic grievances. And with oil ever more in demand, the problems it spawns are likely to spread further.”

The problem in Sudan, therefore, is that most of its revenue comes from oil. As Adam Sterling points out, there are three things needed in order for oil to be profitable; reserves, technical expertise, and capital (investment placed in the whole process). While Sudan has strong oil reserves, it lacks both technical expertise and capital. To make up for these two lacking components, the Sudanese government depends on foreign companies to provide them. “The idea then, is that, as global citizens, while we don’t have influence over the Sudanese government, we do have influence over these companies that are global investors,” says Adam. He also points out, “the UC system, for instance, has a 60 billion dollar pension fund, and the state of California has a 300 billion dollar fund that has millions invested in these companies.” The way they get this capital is through investments. Therefore, if we can get enough investors together to go to these companies and give them an ultimatum by saying “either you change the way you’re doing business in Sudan, use your influence for good, support humanitarian efforts, or place future investments in a peace keeping force or deployments, we will sell our investments.” This is what is known as Charter Divestment, a movement that Adam has helped grow and has additionally helped spear-head an entire movement that has since been infused with a strong sense of empowerment and hope.

The first step towards divestment is “engagement,’ where an investor is identified and then these companies are threatened to have investments pulled if they don’t comply. Adam adds, “If you create a coalition they will listen. Initially we only had the UC and no companies would meet with us. Then we added the state of California, a huge pension fund and many other European Union companies. In the last two years, 12 companies have either taken our recommendation or have left Sudan altogether.”

And so, hope, the crucial element needed in a fight against an issue that is seemingly hopeless, is alive and well. Further proof of this hope is the organization called Mighty Mic, a co-student coalition designed to put on charity concerts for various charitable causes. This year it has decided to focus its concert on Darfur. In addition to setting up this free concert, which took place last night, there are efforts currently in place to send mobile clinics to refugee camps in Chad and the surrounding areas of Darfur. Rohan Shanapant, a first-year student at UCLA and a member of Mighty Mic is a specific example of the hope and activism that is found at the core of this effort. “We’re hoping to make this an annual thing. Our three main goals are to provide education, entertainment and a method of action,” says Rohan. He also adds, “There’s gonna be plenty of NGO’s and various student groups tabling on the night of the concert to learn about how they can become involved in the process.”

The origin of Mighty Mic stems from prior efforts by Unicef and Amnesty international, both of whom were independently coming up with concerts for their causes and eventually realized that they were essentially undermining each others efforts. As a result of this, they decided instead to form a student coalition that would instead organize one giant concert and address all the issues. “To put on this concert, it involves the collaboration of almost every student group at UCLA. It’s the most broad-based student-driven effort on the UCLA campus,” says Rohan. Last year, the Mighty Mic organization also raised money for Doctors without Borders and the Afghani Women.

As we head into the future of this crisis there is still, expectedly so, much more work to be done. In terms of upcoming events, Director Ted Braun reminded us that the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, will announce a new case this summer, sometime in July. And so, we shall stayed tuned. Meanwhile, however, as the situation unfolds, it is our hope that the eyes of the world watch closely and, additionally, prevent themselves from becoming so desensitized that further action is stalled.

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